How to compare bullion dealer prices without fooling yourself
On a kilo of gold, paying by card instead of bank transfer cost S$9,430 more at one Singapore dealer. The premium everyone compares is the smallest of the four things that decide what you pay.
Last checked 23 September 2026. Rules change — every figure below links to its primary source so you can confirm it yourself. How this site sources figures.
- Biggest factor
- Payment method — up to 5.26%
- Second
- Refiner — brands carry different premiums
- Third
- Dealer's own spot reference — 0.21% spread
- Fourth
- Quantity tier — about 0.15%
- Headline premium
- The smallest of the four
- Captured
- Two SG dealers, same 15 minutes, 23 Sep 2026
The number that actually cost the most
On 23 September 2026 a 1kg Perth Mint gold bar at LPM was priced two ways on the same page, for the same bar, at the same quantity:
- By cheque or wire: SG$179,169.51
- By credit card: SG$188,599.49
That is SG$9,429.98 more — 5.26% — for choosing a different button at checkout. It is more than ten times the gap between the two dealers’ premiums we captured that day.
This is not hidden. LPM prints both columns openly. It is simply not the number anyone compares.
Which price is the headline price?
Both dealers we captured lead with their best case, and both show the detail underneath.
BullionStar listed a 1kg PAMP bar at S$180,812.09 for one, S$180,685.53 for two to four, and S$180,522.79 for five or more. Its headline “Price/Gram” and “Price/Troy Ounce” figures correspond to the five-or-more tier. LPM’s bar was headlined “as low as SG$179,128.50”, which sits below even its own quantity-one price.
Neither is concealing anything — the tables are on the same page. But if you compare two headline numbers you may be comparing one dealer’s bulk rate against another’s, and neither against what you would actually pay for one bar.
Dealers price against different spot references
Within the same few minutes, three Singapore dealers were quoting three different gold spot figures: SG$5,548.15, S$5,555.39, and SGD 5,559.76 — the last of those published as a “10AM REFERENCE” rather than a live quote.
That is a spread of 0.21%. Against a premium of roughly 1%, it is a sixth of the quantity you are trying to measure. A premium computed against a live tick and one computed against a morning fix are not the same measurement.
Why we are not telling you which dealer is cheaper
Because the honest answer from two captures is that we cannot tell you that yet, and a site that gave you a league table from this data would be guessing.
The two bars were from different refiners — PAMP and Perth Mint — and refiner brands routinely carry different premiums. Comparing them and calling the difference “dealer margin” would be exactly the error this page is about.
The four things to fix before you compare
- Same payment method. The largest single factor we found. Check whether the price shown assumes bank transfer.
- Same refiner and same weight. A PAMP bar and a Perth Mint bar are not the same product.
- Same quantity tier. Read the tier table, not the headline.
- One spot reference for everything. Pick a single independent figure and price every dealer against it, rather than against each dealer’s own.
You can do the last one on this site’s live spot board, which prices in SGD, MYR, IDR, HKD, AUD and USD. And it costs nothing to ask a dealer what a bar costs by bank transfer at the quantity you actually intend to buy.
What this page does not claim
These are point-in-time captures from two dealers on a single morning, not a survey. Prices move continuously. Nothing here is a recommendation of a dealer or of buying at all — see our position on advice. We have no affiliate relationship with any dealer named here, and the disclosure page will say so before that ever changes.